They may have finished the game with 13 men but Kerry still produced a controlled performance to arrest their recent run of underage defeats to Tipperary in last night’s Cadbury’s Munster U21FC quarter-final in Semple Stadium. Losses at U21 and minor level over the past two years ensured Kerry approached this game in a focused frame of mind. That was reflected in the explosive start they made to the match as they sprinted into a 0-5 to 0-0 lead after only 11 minutes but Kerry did not stroll to victory. A gutsy revival from Tipperary before the break created doubt over the result once more and despite the dominance that Kerry exerted in the second-half, the dismissals of wing-forward Michael Brennan and midfielder James Walsh for second bookable offences, meant Kerry’s nerves were not assuaged until the final whistle.

For former Kerry defensive legend Eamonn Fitzmaurice, departing Thurles with a win in his inter-county managerial bow was a source of satisfaction. “Relieved is the main feeling as tonight was all about the result,” he said. “It was a good test for our fellas to see how they’d respond in the second-half with the sending-offs. The second yellow on Michael Brennan looked very harsh to me. “He just went in on a ball and I’m not sure the Tipperary player had his hands around the ball. But those are the rules and we had to cope with them.”

Despite suffering personnel deficiencies, Kerry were able to pull through due to shining facets elsewhere in their display. The return of 0-10 from their full-forward trio of Kieran Hurley, Conor Cox and Stephen O’Brien was integral to ensuring their qualification for a semi-final meeting with Waterford. O’Brien was typically energetic as he constantly moved into space to collect deliveries and Fitzmaurice reserved special praise for the Kenmare attacker who popped up with a couple of big relieving points in the second-half. “Stephen was outstanding. In fairness to him he had an exam in UCC today but he came up here and showed great leadership, and also kicked a couple of great points.”

Tipperary approached the game in an optimistic mood following their recent underage triumphs but the match concluded on a low note. They struggled to get up to the tempo of the action at the start yet overcame that tentative opening to power into the match. Despite trailing by 0-5 to 0-0 after 19 minutes, Tipperary enjoyed a golden period as the tie inched towards the interval. Liam McGrath and Michael Quinlivan began to replicate the dazzling form they showed at minor level last summer while Jonathan Ryan and Donagh Leahy anchored the Tipperary challenge at the back. When Liam Treacy swivelled to point neatly in first-half injury time, Tipperary were only 0-7 to 0-5 behind and their supporters in the 1,123 attendance were in buoyant form at the break.

But Tipperary never built on the momentum generated from that scoring spree and failed to register in front of goal in the second-half. Their supply into their inside forwards was sub-standard on occasion and they found it difficult to exploit the advantage provided by the extra man when Brennan was dismissed in the 37th minute. Kerry in contrast used the possession cleverly, aided by the control that Darragh O’Sullivan and James Walsh wrestled back around midfield. Fergal McNamara and Jack Sherwood were to the fore in a disciplined defensive effort, and while Tipperary were affected by their failure to capitalise on dead ball opportunities, they did not get the space to create chances in open play.

The closest Tipperary came to firing a goal was in the 41st minute when centre-forward Adrian Cleere struck the crossbar with a fierce shot but in general the Kerry rearguard yielded little. At the other end, they were clinical during their rare forays upfield with O’Brien and Cox raising white flags with beautiful shots during the second half. Even the sending-off of Walsh in the 54th minute failed to knock them off their stride and the Kingdom outfit closed out the game in impressive style.

Defeated Waterford by 1-14 to 1-4 in the Quarter-Final before losing to Cork by 0-21 to 2-3 in the Semi-Final

Defeated Limerick by 3-15 to 2-6 in the Semi-Final before losing to Cork by 2-24 to 0-8 in the Final

Number of Munster Under 21 Football titles

1

25

Last Munster Under 21 Football Title

2010

2008

Munster Under 21 Football Championship Record since 2000

Played – 19
Won – 8
Lost – 11
Drawn – 0

Played – 25
Won – 13
Lost – 10
Drawn – 2

Last meeting in the Munster Under 21 Football Championship

2010 Munster Final – March 31st at Austin Stack Park Tralee – Tipperary 1-7 Kerry 1-6 – A Bernard O’Brien goal gave Tipperary a two point interval lead and substitute Shane Egan scored two crucial points in the second half to ensure Tipperary’s first Munster title in this grade.

What happened 3 years ago?

2009 Munster Minor Football Championship Round-up

Tipperary lost to Kerry in the first round by 1-11 to 1-6. Tipperary then recorded victories over Waterford and Cork to qualify for the Munster Final against Kerry.

Kerry defeated Tipperary and Clare to qualify for the Munster Final. Kerry proved too strong for Tipperary in the final, winning by 0-12 to 0-6 at Pairc Ui Chaoimh.

Corn na Cásca presented by the Football Council in 1966 to commemorate the jubilee of the 1916 Rising.

All Ireland Under 21 Football Championship

In Under 21 Football All Ireland Roll of Honour Cork have won 11 Titles and Kerry have 10 Titles to their credit.Cork were All Ireland Under 21 Champions in1970, 1971, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1994, 2007, 2009.Kerry titles were won in1964, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1990, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2008

Munster Under 21 Football Championship – Useful Information

Attendances for the Munster Under 21 Football Championship have grown by 153% in the period 2007 through to 2011. This is consistent with the 51% rise in attendances for all Munster inter-county football competitions during that period (not including replays).

All matches in this competition will be played under lights on Wednesday nights for the second consecutive year.

The Tipperary Under 21 Football team to play Kerry will be announced on www.tipperary.gaa.ie
on Sunday night at 10:00pm.

Kerry Management profiles

Eamonn Fitzmaurice (Finuge) – was a member of the Kerry Senior Team from 1997 to 2007 and is a holder of three Senior All Ireland medals. He won two U21 titles in 1996 and 1998. He won a County Senior Championship with Feale Rangers in 2007 and UCC. He won an All-Ireland Club Title with Finuge and is a talented hurler and holds two County Hurling titles with Lixnaw. Eamon was a selector with Kerry in 2009 when they won The All-Ireland Senior title. He teaches in Pobal Scoil Chorcha Dhuibhne and has trained school teams.

Darragh Ó Sé (An Ghaeltacht) – holder of six Senior All Ireland medals. This is Darragh’s first management role with a Kerry inter county team.

Harry O’Neill (Dr Crokes) – the most successful club manager in Kerry in recent years. He led Dr Crokes to back to back Senior County Championship Titles in 2010 & 2011.

John Shanahan (Valentia) – played for South Kerry for many years. For the past two seasons he was a Kerry Minor selector and assisted Jack O’Connor with the management of Coáiste na Sceilige teams.

Cork have won 6 of the last 8 Munster Under 21 Football titles, winning 16 of their last 18 games in this Championship. Their only defeats since 2004 came against Kerry in Tralee in 2010 (0-19 to 1-8) and 2008 (0-15 to 0-10). Prior to 2004, Cork won just 2 of the previous 14 Munster Under 21 Football titles from 1990 to 2003 as Kerry won 9 of the 10 titles on offer during the 1990’s.

Kerry have won 2 of the last 12 Munster Under 21 Football Championships, winning 13 of their 25 matches in that period.

Tipperary have won at least 1 game in each of the last 5 Munster Under 21 Football campaigns. No other county has a current winning streak longer than 2 years.

Though Limerick, Waterford and Tipperary have won this competition in this millennium, the combined record of the so called four weaker counties since 2000 is played 74, won 27, lost 44 and drawn 3 – a winning percentage of 36%.

Kerry and Cork have dominated this competition and only once in the history of the championship were one or both counties not involved in the final. That was in 2000 when Limerick played Waterford in the Final in Dungarvan with Limerick lifting the crown for the first and only time on a 0-7 to 0-4 scoreline.

Kraft Foods recently announced the renewal of the Cadbury sponsorship of the GAA U21 Football Championship for another 3 years. The renewal builds on a successful 7 year partnership between Cadbury and the GAA which has seen the Championship go from strength to strength with greater TV coverage now than ever before and over 20,000 fans attending the final in Croke Park last year. This success has been built on innovative sponsorship activation especially in the area of new media which has seen an ever increasing engaged audience of GAA fans participate in the Championship discussion.

Speaking at the launch, Shane Guest, Kraft Foods Ireland said“We are delighted to be able to renew our sponsorship with the GAA and look forward to building on the success of the past 7 years. The skill and determination these young footballers demonstrate continues to astound us and we look forward to another exciting championship in 2012”.

Speaking at the launch Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael Críostóir Ó Cuana said: “The GAA U21 Football Championship has served as an important stepping stone for many of the players who progress to reach the highest level of our game and those who follow the grade closely have been treated to some excellent campaigns in recent seasons. To that end we are delighted to acknowledge the three year extension to our arrangement with Cadbury. Their support and innovation has helped bring great energy to the competition in recent seasons and I look forward to the continuation of what has been a fruitful partnership ahead of what promises to be another intriguing championship.”

Last year’s championship culminated in a great spectacle which saw over 20,000 attendants in Croke Park watch Galway earn a hard fought win against Ulster Champions Cavan and this year the Cadbury GAA Facebook Community have again identified Cavan and Galway as the two counties most likely to battle it out for the All Ireland title. The Cadbury GAA under 21 Football Championship is widely regarded as an important stepping stone to senior success with a large number of Under 21 players already starring for their senior county teams in the National League and in previous Senior All Ireland Championships. Amongst those is 2010 Cadbury Hero of the Future Rory O’Carroll who starred at full back as Dublin claimed the All-Ireland for the first time since 1995. Previous Cadbury Hero of the Future award winners; Colm O’Neill, (HOTF 2009), Killian Young (2008) and Fintan Goold’s (HOTF 2007) have also gone on to claim All-Ireland Senior success.

Cadbury Hero of the Future Awards

Former Cadbury Hero of the Future Award Winners:

2006: Keith Higgins from Mayo

2007: Fintan Goold from Cork

2008: Killian Young from Kerry

2009: Colm O’Neill from Cork

2010: Rory O’Carroll from Dublin

2011: Thomas Flynn from Galway

Cadbury Scholarship Programme

The Cadbury Scholarship programme now covers 9 third level institutions with 13 students receiving awards so far in 2012.

James O’Meara – Limerick (UL)

Eamonn Kiely – Kerry (UL)

Damien Cahalane – Cork (UCC)

Kevin Hallissey – Cork (CIT)

Gary Sweeney – Galway – (NUI Galway)

Einne O’ hEochaidh – Galway (NUI Galway)

Kevin O’Sullivan – Meath (TCD)

Patrick O’Higgins – Dublin (TCD)

Aaron Murphy – Wicklow (UCD)

Cormac Boyle – Westmeath (UCD)

Ciaran Cafferky – Roscommon (DCU)

Jack McCarron – Monaghan (DCU)

Bernard Allen – Offaly (DIT)

2 x University of Ulster – scholarships yet to take place

Cadbury GAA Online

For the 2012 season, Cadbury will continue to build on its digital platforms for its dedicated online community who follow every move of the Championship throughout the season. With established social media platforms including